Events / Program: Milena Jesenská Fellowship for Journalists

	Title Sort descending	Date	Type	Speakers
	Art Criticism during Wartime: Why Not Everything is a Cultural Policy	Mon, 03.07.2023	Seminars and Colloquia	Anna Kaluher Katherine Younger	Art Criticism during Wartime: Why Not Everything is a Cultural Policy Mon, 03.07.2023 Speakers: Anna Kaluher Katherine Younger Series: Seminars and Colloquia What does art criticism mean during wartime? How does decolonization manifest within Ukrainian art criticism in 2022–2023? What are the risks of limiting ourselves to the diplomatic function of cultural policy realization, even if it seems to be the only viable option for action? These questions were explored during this Fellows Colloquium. Read more
Art Criticism during Wartime: Why Not Everything is a Cultural Policy Mon, 03.07.2023 Speakers: Anna Kaluher Katherine Younger Series: Seminars and Colloquia What does art criticism mean during wartime? How does decolonization manifest within Ukrainian art criticism in 2022–2023? What are the risks of limiting ourselves to the diplomatic function of cultural policy realization, even if it seems to be the only viable option for action? These questions were explored during this Fellows Colloquium. Read more
	Becoming ....	Mon, 10.02.2020	Seminars and Colloquia	Ayşe Çağlar Lucy Ashton	Becoming .... Mon, 10.02.2020 Speakers: Ayşe Çağlar Lucy Ashton Series: Seminars and Colloquia Embraced, helped, distrusted, rejected – the refugees of 2015/16 have endured a vicious cycle of popular opinion. In Austria, young Afghans often carry the worst reputation. Nearly five years on, many are still in the asylum process while claims from other nationalities have long since been finalised. Meanwhile, the rejection rate for Afghan claims has almost doubled and Austria has begun deportations to Kabul. In the midst of this prolonged uncertainty, asylum seekers are expected to intergrate from Day 1. Read more
Becoming .... Mon, 10.02.2020 Speakers: Ayşe Çağlar Lucy Ashton Series: Seminars and Colloquia Embraced, helped, distrusted, rejected – the refugees of 2015/16 have endured a vicious cycle of popular opinion. In Austria, young Afghans often carry the worst reputation. Nearly five years on, many are still in the asylum process while claims from other nationalities have long since been finalised. Meanwhile, the rejection rate for Afghan claims has almost doubled and Austria has begun deportations to Kabul. In the midst of this prolonged uncertainty, asylum seekers are expected to intergrate from Day 1. Read more
	Crimes Without Punishments and Damaged Collective Identities	Mon, 15.03.2021	Seminars and Colloquia	Jerko Bakotin	Crimes Without Punishments and Damaged Collective Identities Mon, 15.03.2021 Speakers: Jerko Bakotin Series: Seminars and Colloquia The lecture briefly presented the circumstances of the massacre committed in the town of Dvor during the Croatian Army’s Operation Storm, which crushed the secessionist Serb Republic of Krajina. In the early afternoon of August 8, 1995, nine (possibly ten) mentally ill and handicapped people were executed in Dvor’s primary school, where they had found shelter. Twenty-five years after the massacre, the killers have still not been prosecuted and it is even unclear to which army they belonged. In the vicinity there were both Croatian and Serbian units, while the Bosnian Army was only a few kilometers away. In addition, the massacre happened in front of Danish UN soldiers, whose base was on the school’s playground a mere 20 meters away from the massacre. Read more
Crimes Without Punishments and Damaged Collective Identities Mon, 15.03.2021 Speakers: Jerko Bakotin Series: Seminars and Colloquia The lecture briefly presented the circumstances of the massacre committed in the town of Dvor during the Croatian Army’s Operation Storm, which crushed the secessionist Serb Republic of Krajina. In the early afternoon of August 8, 1995, nine (possibly ten) mentally ill and handicapped people were executed in Dvor’s primary school, where they had found shelter. Twenty-five years after the massacre, the killers have still not been prosecuted and it is even unclear to which army they belonged. In the vicinity there were both Croatian and Serbian units, while the Bosnian Army was only a few kilometers away. In addition, the massacre happened in front of Danish UN soldiers, whose base was on the school’s playground a mere 20 meters away from the massacre. Read more
	Democracy and Conspiracy	Mon, 25.02.2019	Seminars and Colloquia	Tobias Haberkorn	Democracy and Conspiracy Mon, 25.02.2019 Speakers: Tobias Haberkorn Series: Seminars and Colloquia Drawing on research about conspiracy theories and their communities, this talk aimed to elucidate a set of dilemmas that democratic societies find themselves in: The democratic quest for transparency, technocratic excellence, critique, certainty and control may well have undermined the foundations of democracy itself. While it is desirable to restore confidence in democratic institutions, we also have to ask ourselves if a society could be built on sustained mistrust. Read more
Democracy and Conspiracy Mon, 25.02.2019 Speakers: Tobias Haberkorn Series: Seminars and Colloquia Drawing on research about conspiracy theories and their communities, this talk aimed to elucidate a set of dilemmas that democratic societies find themselves in: The democratic quest for transparency, technocratic excellence, critique, certainty and control may well have undermined the foundations of democracy itself. While it is desirable to restore confidence in democratic institutions, we also have to ask ourselves if a society could be built on sustained mistrust. Read more
	European Elections 2019: The Day After	Mon, 27.05.2019	Seminars and Colloquia	Marina Lalovic	European Elections 2019: The Day After Mon, 27.05.2019 Speakers: Marina Lalovic Series: Seminars and Colloquia European elections represent the biggest electoral contest in Europe. But since the first votes in 1979, turnout in European parliament elections has been declining ever since. Could anything be different this time? One of the most important tests for the future of the EU seems to be the next European elections. These are the first elections without the participation of the United Kingdom, even though neither that’s clear so far. On the other hand, it is necessary to put the spotlight on how the rising populism shakes up these elections. Less than two months after an alleged Brexit day (March 29), in May 2019, these last elections were those most politically exploited by European leaders. So far, one may identify three possible scenarios: a decisive victory for anti-EU parties, unexpected gains for the pro-EU parties and the third one could be a scenario that confusedly mixes the two. Regardless of who is going to win, the upcoming European elections are going to reshape both the reality and the perception of the current EU. Read more
European Elections 2019: The Day After Mon, 27.05.2019 Speakers: Marina Lalovic Series: Seminars and Colloquia European elections represent the biggest electoral contest in Europe. But since the first votes in 1979, turnout in European parliament elections has been declining ever since. Could anything be different this time? One of the most important tests for the future of the EU seems to be the next European elections. These are the first elections without the participation of the United Kingdom, even though neither that’s clear so far. On the other hand, it is necessary to put the spotlight on how the rising populism shakes up these elections. Less than two months after an alleged Brexit day (March 29), in May 2019, these last elections were those most politically exploited by European leaders. So far, one may identify three possible scenarios: a decisive victory for anti-EU parties, unexpected gains for the pro-EU parties and the third one could be a scenario that confusedly mixes the two. Regardless of who is going to win, the upcoming European elections are going to reshape both the reality and the perception of the current EU. Read more
	How left-wing parties deal with immigration: Notes from France	Mon, 04.07.2022	Seminars and Colloquia	Ludger Hagedorn Madeleine Schwartz	How left-wing parties deal with immigration: Notes from France Mon, 04.07.2022 Speakers: Ludger Hagedorn Madeleine Schwartz Series: Seminars and Colloquia In this talk, Schwartz discussed her recent reporting on the French socialist and leftist parties to elaborate on how left-wing parties deal with changing social patterns. Read more
How left-wing parties deal with immigration: Notes from France Mon, 04.07.2022 Speakers: Ludger Hagedorn Madeleine Schwartz Series: Seminars and Colloquia In this talk, Schwartz discussed her recent reporting on the French socialist and leftist parties to elaborate on how left-wing parties deal with changing social patterns. Read more
	How to Be a Climate Change Journalist in Ukraine and Why Environmental Storytelling Can Help Spread Important Ideas	Mon, 14.09.2020	Seminars and Colloquia	Ludger Hagedorn Mariana Verbovska	How to Be a Climate Change Journalist in Ukraine and Why Environmental Storytelling Can Help Spread Important Ideas Mon, 14.09.2020 Speakers: Ludger Hagedorn Mariana Verbovska Series: Seminars and Colloquia Since Ukraine is an agrarian country, the importance of knowledge about climate change cannot be overestimated. In fact, today we already have regions where we harvest potatoes and corn twice a year, and regions where grapes and peaches ripen, which have not even been cultivated before. It is very important to talk not only about climate change as a global catastrophe, but also about the new challenges and opportunities that come with it. Read more
How to Be a Climate Change Journalist in Ukraine and Why Environmental Storytelling Can Help Spread Important Ideas Mon, 14.09.2020 Speakers: Ludger Hagedorn Mariana Verbovska Series: Seminars and Colloquia Since Ukraine is an agrarian country, the importance of knowledge about climate change cannot be overestimated. In fact, today we already have regions where we harvest potatoes and corn twice a year, and regions where grapes and peaches ripen, which have not even been cultivated before. It is very important to talk not only about climate change as a global catastrophe, but also about the new challenges and opportunities that come with it. Read more
	Irony in Politics	Mon, 05.06.2023	Seminars and Colloquia	Gergely Tóth Misha Glenny	Irony in Politics Mon, 05.06.2023 Speakers: Gergely Tóth Misha Glenny Series: Seminars and Colloquia Irony has always fascinated thinkers, artists and frankly, everyone reflecting on the smaller and bigger paradoxes of life. Since the Romantic movement, irony is understood to be more than an “average” trope; it has been framed, variously, as an attitude, a discursive strategy or even the source of freedom. According to Søren Kierkegaard, “[j]ust as philosophy begins with doubt, so also a life that may be called human begins with irony. […] no genuinely human life is possible without irony.” Read more
Irony in Politics Mon, 05.06.2023 Speakers: Gergely Tóth Misha Glenny Series: Seminars and Colloquia Irony has always fascinated thinkers, artists and frankly, everyone reflecting on the smaller and bigger paradoxes of life. Since the Romantic movement, irony is understood to be more than an “average” trope; it has been framed, variously, as an attitude, a discursive strategy or even the source of freedom. According to Søren Kierkegaard, “[j]ust as philosophy begins with doubt, so also a life that may be called human begins with irony. […] no genuinely human life is possible without irony.” Read more
	Letters to Enver Hoxha	Mon, 02.11.2020	Seminars and Colloquia	Nikolai Antoniadis Miloš Vec	Letters to Enver Hoxha Mon, 02.11.2020 Speakers: Nikolai Antoniadis Miloš Vec Series: Seminars and Colloquia From after World War II until his death in 1985, thousands of Albanians wrote letters to Enver Hoxha, a mixture of trivial everyday concerns and exceptional episodes that are tragic, heart-warming and absurd in equal measure. These letters were meticulously archived by the authorities, discussed and acted upon. Put in context, they reveal an abysmal world in which the Party was in control of all aspects of life – a national trauma that has not been addressed to this day. Read more
Letters to Enver Hoxha Mon, 02.11.2020 Speakers: Nikolai Antoniadis Miloš Vec Series: Seminars and Colloquia From after World War II until his death in 1985, thousands of Albanians wrote letters to Enver Hoxha, a mixture of trivial everyday concerns and exceptional episodes that are tragic, heart-warming and absurd in equal measure. These letters were meticulously archived by the authorities, discussed and acted upon. Put in context, they reveal an abysmal world in which the Party was in control of all aspects of life – a national trauma that has not been addressed to this day. Read more
	Mental Illness as a Cultural and Societal Phenomenon	Mon, 23.11.2020	Seminars and Colloquia	Anna Kiedrzynek Eric Reinhart Ludger Hagedorn	Mental Illness as a Cultural and Societal Phenomenon Mon, 23.11.2020 Speakers: Anna Kiedrzynek Eric Reinhart Ludger Hagedorn Series: Seminars and Colloquia The collapse of communism in the CEE region 30 years ago was the start of a long-term process of sociopolitical change, in which a major transformation of the mental health system was expected. Unfortunately, this transformation is not yet complete. For example, in Poland people with severe mental illnesses and disabilities are treated in large psychiatric institutions and lack access to community-based care. The stigma around people with severe illnesses remains higher there than in Western European countries (according to The Lancet Psychiatry): they face exclusion on many levels and often remain marginalized. It is crucial that mental illnesses is seen, by both academic researchers and journalists, as not just a biological fact but also a societal and cultural phenomenon. Read more
Mental Illness as a Cultural and Societal Phenomenon Mon, 23.11.2020 Speakers: Anna Kiedrzynek Eric Reinhart Ludger Hagedorn Series: Seminars and Colloquia The collapse of communism in the CEE region 30 years ago was the start of a long-term process of sociopolitical change, in which a major transformation of the mental health system was expected. Unfortunately, this transformation is not yet complete. For example, in Poland people with severe mental illnesses and disabilities are treated in large psychiatric institutions and lack access to community-based care. The stigma around people with severe illnesses remains higher there than in Western European countries (according to The Lancet Psychiatry): they face exclusion on many levels and often remain marginalized. It is crucial that mental illnesses is seen, by both academic researchers and journalists, as not just a biological fact but also a societal and cultural phenomenon. Read more